Alleged Container Theft: NAGAFF demands immediate Arrest of Manager of Ekko Premier Container & Allied Services Ltd.

The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Manager of Ekko Premier Container and Allied Services Limited following the alleged case of theft and criminal conversion of Container Numbers FFAU 2082021,

CAIU7022981 and MSDU 7666283 by management of the terminal operator.

Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko, National Coordinator, 100% Compliance Team of NAGAFF made the call in a letter he sent to the Assistant Inspector-General, Maritime Police Headquarters to officially report the alleged anomalies being perpetrated by the management of Ekko Premier Container and Allied Services Limited

The letter reads in part: “Whereas the outcome of your painstaking investigation on the above mentioned containers were duly communicated to the above named terminal, with the consequential orders ignored, we hereby implore your good offices to immediately commence criminal prosecution against them. But for our intelligence network, the containers would have been spirited away in the night of 20th March, 2025.

“We have physical and material evidence to prove their nefarious and criminal intents.

“Recall Sir, that in your position as keepers of order and security in the maritime industry, you initiated mediations since November, 2024.

Your office wrote the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for clarification on the status of the containers. You obtained clear and unambiguous affirmations that the said containers were duly allocated to ELEVATE MOORE VENTURES through the auction process.

“The terminal rejected your letter, questioning your authority in that regard. They insisted on getting a letter from the Customs, to ascertain the authenticity of your investigations. The Customs wrote them, affirming your findings, and ordering them to release the containers to ELEVATE MOORE VENTURES. Still, they refused; ignoring you, your summons and that of the Nigeria Customs Service.

“Note Sir, that the criminal intents of this terminal management was laid bare when they breached established protocols to lift those containers without a valid DELIVERY ORDER from the Shipping Line. Till date, the other “allotees”, as claimed by the Terminal have never shown up, not even to the Customs to claim ownership. This confirms our suspicion that the Terminal Management had decided to steal those containers.

“There is also a serious suspicion that those containers may have been tampered with. One is believed to have been stuffed with cement blocks. The other completely empty. That could be why they have been dodging your invitations.

“You may have to write the Customs to ascertain the veracity of this allegations.

“The Terminal Management needs to be arrested as the examination is done” Alhaji Tanko insists.